Mass Child Support 2021 Guidelines
Jane Does Well Spearheads Change
In 2020, Jane Does Well created an Awareness Committee to study significant issues facing divorced women, children and female-lead households.
Our committee discovered multiple issues effecting child support in Massachusetts, including a quadrennial decrease in the average level of child support allocations in comparison to every other state in the nation since 2012. Inaccuracies in the economic model used to determine the cost of raising a child in Massachusetts resulted in decreased support to children.
Jane Does Well's successful advocacy, including a comprehensively researched brief submitted to the Probate and Family Court, contributed to changes made to the Trial Court's 2021 Child Support Guidelines that increases much needed support to over one million of our state's children.
“We are thankful to Honorable Paula Carey and the Task Force for making much-needed changes to current guidelines”, stated Lori Johnson, Director of Advocacy at Jane Does Well. “These changes come a long way to correct the numerous financial disparities produced by previous child support guidelines."
Read revised changes →
“We are thrilled with the outcome of the new guidelines. Several recommendations that Jane Does Well, along with many other legal aid institutions and members of the public, advocated for were addressed by the 2021 Task Force." - Christina Pavlina -Executive Director, Jane Does Well
In January 2021, Jane Does Well's Executive Director, Christina Pavlina, and former Awareness Committee member, Lori Johnson, spoke with journalist, Rama K. Ramaswamy, about the compelling work to make necessary and impactful change in the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines.
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Jane Does Well believes that all participants in the family court process have the right to equal access to justice regardless of status, income, ethnicity or gender. We support a fair, equitable, efficient judicial and legal process that impartially and respectfully protects and prioritizes Massachusetts children and families.
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